tricycleracer:bdub77: Because when it's hot and burning in a building there's nothing I go to faster than something long and heat conductive.

Hey, the mandated fire stairs at my condo are made of wood.

i don't think you're supposed to use the fire escape if the fire escape is the part of the building that's on fire. and if the whole building's on fire, you're dead no matter what the fire escape is made out of. the fire escape is like the parking brake. it's better than nothing in the event that your real brakes stopped working.

pute kisses like a man:tricycleracer: bdub77: Because when it's hot and burning in a building there's nothing I go to faster than something long and heat conductive.

Hey, the mandated fire stairs at my condo are made of wood.

i don't think you're supposed to use the fire escape if the fire escape is the part of the building that's on fire. and if the whole building's on fire, you're dead no matter what the fire escape is made out of. the fire escape is like the parking brake. it's better than nothing in the event that your real brakes stopped working.

PunGent:I'm curious about the "deploys at the touch of a button" part...how fast?

Will it telescope down and cold-cock some poor firefight at the bottom?

You KNOW some kid will push that button, long before there's a fire...

I was just thinking, this would be a parents answer to slow kids in the morning. Let the kids use the slide every morning for getting to school faster. It still won't help for those teens that refuse to get out of bed till one day you snap and throw their butts into the shower still in their pajamas.

/a friend had to do that last part to his daughter recently//she gets up early now

One of the nearby grade schools had one of these for a fire escape. I think it went from the third floor. I envied them. Every fire drill I attended, I had to hold hands with Billie "Sticky Hands" Snotblaster and Cheryl "Klingy 'If We Die in a Fire We'll be Together Forever, Harry'" Sademo.

I think I recall seeing that same guy getting turned down by some potential investors on a cornball invention show. The name slips my mind, but it was just two investors going around meeting people who wanted help getting the ball rolling. Seemed about as real as Storage Wars, so I didn't take it seriously.

Good ting they don't typically have pets.. I don't see this being a good idea, and what about the elderly and disabled? As we all know, there always is one ahole or other variables that will jam that slide. I would use it everyday to get down the steps though.

Um, the slide is metal. In a fire, wouldn't it heat up (not to mention the body heat and friction heat from so many people sliding down it) and make it unusable? I am sure that many would say that the sheer awesomeness of a slide outweighs this, but I can see someone, in the panic of a fire and not wearing heavy clothing, sliding down the chute and burning the hell out of their legs and ass.

And no, I am not saying that the slide should be plastic, I am just curious if the metal is a somewhat bad idea...

Anastacya:Um, the slide is metal. In a fire, wouldn't it heat up (not to mention the body heat and friction heat from so many people sliding down it) and make it unusable? I am sure that many would say that the sheer awesomeness of a slide outweighs this, but I can see someone, in the panic of a fire and not wearing heavy clothing, sliding down the chute and burning the hell out of their legs and ass.

And no, I am not saying that the slide should be plastic, I am just curious if the metal is a somewhat bad idea...

Exactly. That's why we make fire escapes out of non-heat-conductive materials in the US. Building codes, people, building codes.

So I pictured them sliding straight into a patch of flame they didn't see around the corner.. and the slide conducting a decent amount of heat. Metal slides in the sun can cause painful memories, I can only imagine what a slide in a fire would feel like. Slowly leave your melting skin behind you like a snail trail?